Proverbs 12
English Standard Version
12 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who (A)hates reproof is (B)stupid.
2 A good man (C)obtains favor from the Lord,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3 No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of (D)the righteous will never be moved.
4 (E)An excellent wife is (F)the crown of her husband,
but she who (G)brings shame is like (H)rottenness in his bones.
5 (I)The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked (J)lie in wait for blood,
but (K)the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 (L)The wicked are (M)overthrown and are no more,
(N)but the house of the righteous will stand.
8 A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is (O)despised.
9 Better to be lowly and have a servant
than to play the great man and lack bread.
10 (P)Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
11 (Q)Whoever works his land (R)will have plenty of bread,
(S)but he who follows (T)worthless pursuits lacks sense.
12 Whoever is wicked covets (U)the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13 An evil man is ensnared (V)by the transgression of his lips,[a]
(W)but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14 From the fruit of his mouth (X)a man is satisfied with good,
(Y)and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.
15 (Z)The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 (AA)The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 (AB)Whoever speaks[b] the truth gives honest evidence,
but (AC)a false witness utters deceit.
18 (AD)There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings (AE)healing.
19 Truthful lips endure forever,
but (AF)a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20 Deceit is in the heart of (AG)those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.
21 (AH)No ill befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 (AI)Lying lips are (AJ)an abomination to the Lord,
(AK)but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 (AL)A prudent man conceals knowledge,
(AM)but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
24 (AN)The hand of the diligent will rule,
while the slothful will be (AO)put to forced labor.
25 (AP)Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.
26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,[c]
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27 (AQ)Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,
but the diligent man will get precious wealth.[d]
28 (AR)In the path of righteousness is life,
and in its pathway there is no death.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 12:13 Or In the transgression of the lips, there is an evil snare
- Proverbs 12:17 Hebrew breathes out
- Proverbs 12:26 Or The righteous chooses his friends carefully
- Proverbs 12:27 Or but diligence is precious wealth
Isaiah 28
English Standard Version
Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem
28 Ah, the proud crown of (A)the drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has (B)one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like (C)a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
3 (D)The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
4 (E)and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like (F)a first-ripe fig[a] before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
5 (G)In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,[b]
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6 and (H)a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and (I)strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 (J)These also reel with wine
and (K)stagger with strong drink;
the priest and (L)the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by[c] wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
9 (M)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 (N)For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
(O)“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
(P)that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you (Q)scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the (R)overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made (S)lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
(T)“Behold, I am the one who has laid[d] as a foundation (U)in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice (V)the line,
and righteousness (W)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then (X)your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
(Y)for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be (Z)sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up (AA)as on Mount Perazim;
(AB)as in the Valley of (AC)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not (AD)scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard (AE)a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 (AF)When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer[e] as the border?
26 (AG)For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;[f]
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is (AH)wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:4 Or fruit
- Isaiah 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
- Isaiah 28:7 Or confused by
- Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying
- Isaiah 28:25 A type of wheat
- Isaiah 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever
Ezekiel 22
English Standard Version
Israel's Shedding of Blood
22 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, (A)son of man, (B)will you judge, will you judge (C)the bloody city? (D)Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that (E)her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty (F)by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought (G)your days near, the appointed time of[a] your years has come. (H)Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; (I)your name is defiled; (J)you are full of tumult.
6 “Behold, (K)the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother (L)are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner (M)suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow (N)are wronged in you. 8 (O)You have despised my holy things and (P)profaned my Sabbaths. 9 (Q)There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you (R)who eat on the mountains; (S)they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you (T)men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 (U)One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; (V)another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; (W)another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you (X)they take bribes to shed blood; (Y)you take interest and profit[b] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but (Z)me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
13 “Behold, (AA)I strike my hand at (AB)the dishonest gain that you have made, and at (AC)the blood that has been in your midst. 14 (AD)Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? (AE)I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 (AF)I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and (AG)I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And (AH)you shall be profaned by your own doing (AI)in the sight of the nations, (AJ)and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 (AK)“Son of man, the house of Israel has become (AL)dross to me; all of them are (AM)bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are (AN)dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, (AO)to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you (AP)in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; (AQ)I have poured out my wrath upon you.”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is (AR)not cleansed (AS)or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 (AT)The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is (AU)like a roaring lion (AV)tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 (AW)Her priests (AX)have done violence to my law and (AY)have profaned my holy things. (AZ)They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and (BA)they have disregarded my Sabbaths, (BB)so that I am profaned among them. 27 (BC)Her princes in her midst are like wolves (BD)tearing the prey, (BE)shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And (BF)her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, (BG)seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land (BH)have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and (BI)have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 (BJ)And I sought for a man among them (BK)who should build up the wall (BL)and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore (BM)I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned (BN)their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 22:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts until
- Ezekiel 22:12 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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